Title: The Little Puddle
Author: Axel Scheffler
Characters: Pip and Posy
Settings: Posy’s house
Summary: Pip goes to Posy’s house. They play for a long time. Pip is so thirsty! He drinks a bottle of water. They continue to play for a while. Pip is so happy playing with Posy that he forgets to go to the toilet and pees on the floor. Posy only has a dress to lend him. He wears a clean dress and draws several pictures with Posy. This time he remembers to go to the toilet!

My Favorite Part: Everyone has accidents sometimes. It’s like how Pip wets his pants because he has too much fun and forgets to go to toilet. I learn that I can’t forget to go to the toilet just because I’m having fun.

Title: The Bad Seed
Character: many seeds
Setting: city
How many good seeds for this book? 8 good seeds.
How many points did I give? 5 points.

Events

First:
The bad seed is bad. He never puts things back and hesitates to do everything. He never washes his hands and feet. He is a baaaaaaaaaaad seed.

Then, he wasn’t always this bad. He was from a sunflower. They had fun every day. One day they fell off and was put into a seeds bag.

Next:
In the bag, he felt so sad. It was dark. Suddenly, a giant opened the bag and ate them. He was spit out and landed on a piece of gum. He was a bad seed with no friends.

Last:
One day he makes a big decision. He is ready to be happy. Sometimes he still forgets to listen and shows up late. He tries to say, “Thank you” and “Please.” He smiles. All he can do is to keep trying and thinking. Now he hears, “He’s not all that bad anymore.”

Title: Gran’s new blue shoes
Author: Kate Ruttle  Annermarie Young

Summary:
Help others to be the foundation of happiness.
What I like: I like Gran’s clothes and shoes because they are beautiful.
What I disliked: I dislike that Gran’s new blue shoe is broken when she steps on the ditch cover.

My favorite part:
1. My favorite part is when the Queen gives Gran a badge, because I like badges. The badge represents honor and how she did a good job.
2. When Gran broke her shoe, the Duke helped her. I like this part because I like to help people, and when I am in trouble, I hope someone can help me too.

Title: Frog and Toad Are Friends

The reason why I like this book is because Frog is warm and considerate. Toad is a bit dull and has a sense of humor. Although Toads often make big jokes, Frogs can always solve problems with tolerance and wisdom.

Sometimes when Frog is bored, Toad will tell him a joke. Once, originally, Frog was sick and Toad took care of him. He wanted to tell a story to the Frog but he couldn’t remember it for a long time. He started to stand upside down, he poured water on his head, and hit the wall... but still couldn’t think of the story.

Frog crossed the path to find Toad and found that he had been sleeping. He just thought of many ways to tell him that winter has passed!

The snow melted and the flowers bloomed. The weather has become warmer! Toad didn’t believe it! He said, “I’m still so tired! Let me sleep...” Frog tried to get him up. He went to look at his calendar and found that Toad, hadn’t torn off the calendar since November! He helped him tear it up from November to April! Then he went to call Toad and said... May is here!! Toad was too scared to wake up and said, “So fast!! Yes~~ so we can swim in the river,” and finally the sleeping toad wakes up!

Once Toad was made fun of by many animals; turtles, lizards, snakes, mice, and dragonflies all laughed. When his swimsuit was funny, the frog spoke for him. This kind of friendship is very good and precious. The friends are united.

Because Toad said that he had no friends to write a letter to him. Frog asked the slow-moving “snail postman” to help him deliver the letter to him. Toad found out and waited outside the window every day.

My favorite in this story is: “Lost Button!” Toad lost a button on his coat, and many animals helped him find it! There were friends like frogs, sparrows, and raccoons, but not half of them found his original button. He looked very angry, but finally found his button at home. Toad thanked his good friend Frog for helping him find his button. Toad used the buttons found by those animals to make the world’s only jacket with many different buttons to give to Frog. I also hope to have such good friends. No matter how old I am, when I am sad and happy, He can always be with me.

Summer Book Report by Vera
Title: Horton Hears a Who
Main Characters: Horton, Who-ville, Who
Author: Dr. Seuss

At the beginning, Horton saved a tiny child on his back and safely took him back to a dandelion. Horton thought dandelion was alive. There was a little voice calling him. It was Who-ville’s mayor.

In the middle, all animals who lived in the jungle wanted to put him into a cage. Because they did not believe that dandelion was really alive. Horton told Who-Ville’s mayor to make sounds to let everyone know he was really there! So Who-ville tried very hard to make noises.

At the end, all who lived in Who-ville made the biggest sound ever. The animals finally believed dandelion was alive! And they protected Who-ville together. And they become friends too!

Theme:
The author wants to tell us we need to be like Horton: be whatever you want to be, be kind to other people, and believe that a person is a person no matter how small.

Opinion:
I will give this book 4 stars because the pictures are too ugly for me. But the story is very good, and I like it, because the animal will try to change their bad thoughts to good thoughts.

My Book Report: Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian: The Chronicles of Narnia was written by C.S. Lewis. This book was first published in 1951. This edition was printed in 1979. You can buy this in any English bookstore in Taiwan, or on Amazon.com.

This book is a fantasy about a family of four sisters and brothers. Their names are Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy Pevensie. They went to a magical place called Narnia. It is also about the people they met along the way. Two important people they met are a prince named Caspian and a talking lion called Aslan. The story was first set in London, England, and later on in Narnia. The main problem in this story is that the children met a bad king who wanted to kill his nephew, the real king.

My favorite part in the story is the blowing of the magic horn. This horn belonged to Susan and was used to call for help. When the horn was blown in this story, it called the four Pevensie children in to Narnia for a rescue mission. If you want to find out what will happen next, you can read the book. If you really enjoy it, you can read the other six books about the Pevensies. It is called The Chronicles of Narnia.

Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Character: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger,
Rubeus Hagrid, Draco Malfoy,
Albus Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort,
Ron Weasley

Plot:
The main character of this book is Harry Potter. He was a little boy who lived with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. They treated Harry very badly and made him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. They told him that his parents died in a car accident. On Harry’s 11-year-old birthday, he received a letter from a giant, Hagrid. Hagrid told him that he was a wizard and his parents were killed by Voldemort. Voldemort tried to kill Harry, too, but he couldn’t. Hagrid also told him about Hogwarts. Hogwarts was the school for wizards. They went to the Diagon Alley to prepare everything they needed in Hogwarts. At Hogwarts, Harry met two friends: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They learned about spells, how to fly on broomsticks, and other things about wizards. Harry is good at playing Quidditch game. They also fought with a troll and a three-headed dog. One day, Harry heard about how the Sorcerer’s stone was hidden in the school and how Voldemort wanted to steal it. Harry and his friends decided to protect the Sorcerer’s Stone. They faced some challenges, Ron won a match of Wizard’s Chess, Hermione found the way to pass through the fire, and Harry caught the flying key by flying on a broomstick. Harry saw Voldemort, who hid himself on the back of Professor Quirrell’s head. At last, Harry defeated him.

My Favorite Part:
It is a fantasy and adventure book that is fun to read and makes me want to keep reading. My favorite character is Harry Potter because he is very smart and brave. When he faced danger, he was very calm and tried to think how to solve different problems.

My favorite part of the book is when Harry, Hermione, and Ron were looking for the Sorcerer’s Stone, and they had to play a game of chess so they could get through the door. Another challenge was when Harry flew on a broomstick and caught the right flying key to open the door to the next room. Then, Harry faced Voldemort and defeated him.

Title: The Gruffalo

A fox saw the mouse and said, “Come and eat lunch with me.” “No I’m going to eat lunch with Gruffallo,” said Mouse. “A gruffallo? What’s a gruffallo?” “Why don’t you know? He has a terrible tusk, claws, and teeth.” “Where are you meeting him?” “Here by the rocks, and his favorite food is roasted fox.” “Roasted fox! I’m off!” “Silly fox. There’s no such a thing as a gruffallo.,” said Mouse

An owl saw the mouse and said, “Come and have a tea with me?” “No, I’m going to have lunch with Gruffallo.” “A gruffallo?” “Why, don’t you know his eyes are orange, he has knobbly knees, and turned-out toes and a poisonous wart?” “Where are you meeting him?” “Here by this stream and his favorite food is owl ice cream.” “Toouhit toowhoo!” “Doesn’t he know? There’s no such a thing as a gruffallo,” said Mouse.

A snake saw the mouse and said “Come for a feast with me.” “No, I’m going to have a lunch with Gruffallo.” “A gruffallo?” “Don’t you know? His tongue is black. He has purple prickles all over his back”, “where are you meeting him?” “Here by this lake and his favorite food is scrambled snake.” “Scrambled snake! It’s time I hid!” “Silly snake. There’s no such a thing as gruffallo,” said Mouse.

Oh! Oh help! Oh no! It’s a gruffallo. My favorite food said the gruffallo. “Everyone is afraid of me,” said the mouse and they walked till Gruffallo said “I hear a hiss in the leaf ahead.” It’s snake. Snake looked at Gruffallo and ran away. Owl took one look at Gruffallo and flew away. Fox looked at Gruffallo and ran away, too. And at last, Mouse said, “ My favorite food is Gruffallo crumbled” and Gruffallo ran away.

My favorite part is when Mouse took Gruffallo to the forest and let the Gruffallo saws Mouse’s friend, because I think Fox, Owl, and Snake are funny when they are scared.

I don’t like that the mouse cheated the animals, because the animals were all very kind but the mouse just cheated them. If I were the animal deceived by Mouse,I would be very angry.

I think Fox, Owl, and Snake are stupid, because they were all fooled by Mouse. I think the little mouse is very smart, because when he finally met Gruffallo.He made up a story so that Gruffallo didn’t want to eat him. The fox, owl, and snake are all very friendly, and they all invited the mouse to their house to rest. It there really was a gruffallo in the world I would like to see.

Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Characters:
Harry James Potter: The main character; black hair, emerald eyes, lightning-shaped scar on the forehead, Dumbledore’s favorite student, Ronald and Hermione’s friend.

Ronald Bilious Weasley: combed red hair, light green eyes, not good at schoolwork, Harry and Hermione’s friend, boyfriend of Hermione’s.

Albus Dumbledore: Headmaster of Hogwarts; long white hair and beard, deep blue eyes, the only wizard Voldemort is afraid of, friend of Rubeus Hagrid’s.

Lord Voldemort: World’s most evil sorcerer, frightened of Dumbledore, couldn’t kill Harry.

The title of this book is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone written by J.K. Rowling. I chose this book because I’ve always liked magic and wizards, and it inspires people to write books as amazing as the Harry Potter Series!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a fantasy literature, as there are no such thing as goblins, mermaids, unicorns, etc..

The characters are Harry James Potter, Hermione Jean Granger, and Ronald Bilious Weasley. This book is super good I assure you. But I think Ms. Rowling could think about Lord Voldemort showing up a bit more in the amazing stories to make it more awesome.

The theme of this book is probably that love is power and friendship is important. Because love is the only thing Voldemort didn’t have. And I don’t think Harry would survive at all without Ronald and Hermione.

This book is set a very long time ago from now. It takes place at Hogwarts School. I like this book very much because the author is so creative about magic spells, especially the “Expelliarmus” one. It could blast people into the air!!

The best part of this book is when Voldemort ties Harry up with a rope and demands for the Sorcerer’s Stone from him until finally the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, came and rescued Harry from that horrid Voldemort. It makes readers’ heart beat faster and faster and faster!!

I would recommend it to friends because this is super exciting, I think they will like it as much as I do. I give this book 5 stars because it’s so cool, and exciting as well!

In this book I learned that friendship is important and love is power. Anything good can happen if we work together. Anything can be beaten if we have love.

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 By. J.K. Rowling

Characters: Harry James Potter, Voldemort/Tom Marvolo Riddle, Hermione Jean Granger, Ron Bilius Weasley, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Sirius Black, The Weasleys, Kreacher, Nagini, Dolores Jane Umbridge, Phoenix, Death Eater

Setting: The Burrow, No 12, Grimmauld Place, Godric’s Hallow, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Main idea:

• Believe in your choice
• Friends have to cooperate
• Your efforts will not be wasted
• Cherish your friendships

Supplement

Horcrux: You split your soul and hide a part of it in an object outside of your body. Then, even if one’s body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for the part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged.

How to make it: By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. A wizard who intends to create a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage; he would encase the torn portion with a spell.

How to put yourself back together: Remorse – you’ve got to really feel what you’ve done.

How to destroy Horcruxes: Basilisk fangs are one of the few really fool-proof ways of destroying a Horcrux. It has to be something so destructive that the Horcrux can’t repair itself.

Events

Harry decides to finish the mission that Dumbledore had given him. The mission is to destroy all of the Horcruxes; if all of them are destroyed, Voldemort can be killed. Harry and Dumbledore both destroyed one together. They already found another one, but it was fake; inside the fake locket, there was a note written by the name “R.A.B.”

On Harry’s seventeen year old birthday, the Minister of Magic comes to meet Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He gives them the relics that Dumbledore had left for them. Dumbledore gives Harry the snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts and the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Ron gets the Deluminator, Dumbledore’s own making. Hermione gets a copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard. Unfortunately, the minister thinks that the sword doesn’t belong to Harry and also the sword was gone, so he can’t get the sword. Because of the Death Eater, they stay in Sirius Black’s house. Next day, Harry finds the name “R.A.B.” is Sirius’s brother. “Regulus Arcturus Black.” In order to find the locket, Harry calls the house-elf, before, but he belongs to Harry now. They ask him about the locket, and Kreacher tells them that “Mundungus Fletcher stole the real locket;” therefore, Harry let Kreacher go find him. When he came, Mundungus told them that he gave it to Dolores Jane Umbridge. Because of that, they steal it from her. However, they lose their house and they have to live in the forest. They change from forest to forest every day. Ron doesn’t like it, so he leaves them.

They think Dumbledore gave the sword of Godric Gryffindor to Bathilda Bagshot. She is an author and a friend of Dumbledore and Harry’s parents, so they go to the Godric’s Hollow. When they find Bathilda, she brings Harry to the second floor. While Harry is not paying attention, she turns into Voldemort’s snake, Nagini. Fortunately, Hermione saves him, but his wand was broken and it couldn’t be fixed. That night, Harry sees a Patronus in the shape of a doe. He follows her. When she disappears, he discovers the sword under the lake, and he jumps in the lake. It’s too cold and when he’s almost freezing, someone saves him. It was Ron. He uses the sword to kill the Horcrux in the locket. Ron comes back to find them through the help of the Deluminator that Dumbledore had given him; it brought him back.

Story Review

My favorite part of the story is when Ron finds and saves Harry. He uses the sword to kill the part of Voldemort. I like this part because this action destroys Voldemort and other bad guy.

Albus Dumbledore is my favorite character. He’s very smart and he’s powerful. He has his own reasons for everything he does.

The character I dislike is “Dolores Umbridge.” I don’t like her because she’s too selfish, and she thinks that only the pure-blood and half-blood can stay in the magic world.

Title: Wonder
Author: R.J. Palacio

Summary

The book is about a 10-year-old boy named August Pullman. He is an ordinary kid who plays Xbox and is obsessed with Star Wars. The only thing that makes him different from others is his appearance. He has a genetic condition, Treacher Collins syndrome, which causes his face to be disfigured.

Whenever he goes out, he wears a helmet to avoid people from seeing his face. Due to his condition, he has been homeschooled by his mom. However, his parents want him to experience a larger world, so they send him to Beecher Prep for the beginning of fifth grade.

Like many kids, August is very anxious on the first day. He tries hard not to draw attention, but people still notice him. He faces a lot of shocked reactions and surprised looks when people react to his appearance for the first time.

Because of his face, nobody wants to sit next to him, and he soon also learns that his classmates are saying that they will catch “the plague” if they touch him, which makes him uncomfortable. Fortunately, he soon becomes good friends with Jack and Summer.

Still, on Halloween, August overheard Jack telling others that he wishes August would stop following him around. Hurt and rejected, August questioned whether he should be in school at all. Yet, from Jack’s point of view, he is actually used to August’s face and genuinely likes him as a friend. One day, Jack has an epiphany and finally understands why August has been upset with him after Halloween.

Jack feels guilty that he lies to others about his feelings about August just because he wants to join the conversation with other boys. When Julian calls August a “freak,” Jack punches him in the mouth. Through Facebook messages, Jack apologizes to August, and they are friends again. The story continues to tell how August and Jack’s friendship goes on and how everything completely changes after a frightening and dramatic event at a school camp.

Treacher Collins syndrome

Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) is a rare genetic disorder. The abnormalities of the face and head tend to involve underdevelopment of the cheekbones, jaws, palate, and mouth, which can cause breathing or feeding difficulties.

In addition, people who has TCS are likely to have malformations of the eyes and ears, which may lead to hearing loss.

Review

This book gives a realistic look at how brutal reality is. It isn’t a usual topic in children’s books. Wonder is about something that we don’t like to talk about because it is so rare and sad. But August is a boy who can’t be hushed into silence or invisibility in his world, simply because of the way he looks. It makes me upset to know how people treat the ones who are different. It is just so unfair for them.

But it is also hard to be the kind person in a cruel society. Once you become friends with them, it is very possible for you to be left out of the popular group. However, we still shouldn't walk away from them. Another important thing that I learned from the book is we shouldn’t love a person with an unlucky and rare syndrome out of sympathy, but out of love for him.

One thing that I really like about the book is that it is told from the point of view of different characters. It begins with August, then the story about his sister, Via, and his schoolmates, until it comes back to August at the end. This works really well as readers can find out what it is like for Via to have a younger brother who takes a great deal of her parents’ attention. Readers can also learn how Jack was left out of the “popular group” at school just because he is August’s friend.